


Metamorphose

by purplebutterflies



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Batbeast, F/F, Transformation, Werewolf, bat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-03
Updated: 2011-10-03
Packaged: 2017-10-24 06:37:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/260234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplebutterflies/pseuds/purplebutterflies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marceline is a vampire 100% of the time. However, sometimes she's also a wolf, a bat, or a beast.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Metamorphose

Princess Bubblegum stretched, sighed, and rolled out of bed. She blinked sleepily as she padded over to the window. Bright sunlight was already streaming through the gaps in shutters, warming the floor beneath her feet. She smiled and opened the curtains.

Something on the bed yowled and exploded into a flurry of motion. "Oh my goodness!" Bubblegum gasped, yanking the curtains back. "Marceline, I am so sorry!"

Marceline had fallen still as soon as the curtains were closed, although Bubblegum could still hear a distinctive hissing. She rushed over to the bed. A first glance failed to reveal any person-sized lumps in the now disarrayed bedding, but there was a small bulge that seemed to be moving at the foot of the bed. Bubblegum carefully peeled the sheets away to reveal a very disgruntled looking bat.

"I'm so sorry," she said again. "I forgot."

Bats couldn't quite sneer, but Marceline pulled it off well enough that Bubblegum got the message. "Glad to know I left such an impression." She shuffled a little further back into the blankets.

Bubblegum sighed and knelt next to the bed. "I didn't mean it like that. I just wasn't fully alert yet, and didn't make the connection between you and sunlight that I should have." She cautiously slid her hand under the blanket and used one finger to scratch the underside of Marceline's chin.

After a few seconds of this Marceline relented and wiggled out from under the sheets, shifting back to her normal form. "How am I supposed to get home now?" she asked, glaring suspiciously at the slivers of sunlight Bubblegum couldn't block. "I didn't bring any of my stuff, and my clothes aren't exactly day-walking material."

"You can borrow some of my clothes," Bubblegum said, and glared when Marceline made a face. "It's that or burn to death." This time Marceline looked at the stray sunlight longingly, and Bubblegum threw a pillow at her. "Get dressed," she snapped.

A short while later Marceline was leaning against the desk while Bubblegum stood in front of the wardrobe, trying to choose the jacket most likely to be returned to her in its original condition. Why did everything she own have to be shades of pale red?

There was a knock at the door. Marceline, as was her habit, quickly shifted to her bat form and flew up to hover near the ceiling, where she was unlikely to be noticed. Bubblegum only rolled her eyes a bit, and called, "Come in!"

Peppermint Butler entered, carried a neatly arranged tray. "I have your morning tea, princess."

"Thank you," she replied distractedly. "Leave it on the nightstand, would you?" She could hear precise steps and soft clinks as Peppermint dropped off the tea and began tidying the room.

This time she realized what was going to happen the instant before it happened, but that still wasn't enough time to stop it. She was barely able to turn and yell, "Wait!" before Peppermint Butler threw open the curtains. Marceline, this time without the blankets to protect her, hissed in pain, then dove for the relative safety of _Bubblegum's shirt._

Bubblegum shrieked and hopped in place, but that didn't do much to dislodge the bat currently nestled between her breasts. Peppermint whipped around in confusion. "Princess, are you alright?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Fine! Fine!" she said instinctively, crossing her arms over the all-too-obvious bulge under her shirt. She stepped closer to the wardrobe and pulled the door so that it was between her and Peppermint, then tugged at her neckline. "What are you doing?!" she hissed. "Get out of there!"

"No way!" Marceline growled right back. "This place is a death trap."

"I'm getting you a jacket!"

"Yeah, that's going to help the next time one of your subject manages to let in a ton of sunlight _directly onto my face_. Look, just take me to the treeline. I can get home from there."

"Like this?!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"I have at least a dozen better ideas!"

"Alright, fine." Marceline shifted agitatedly, then tilted her head. "There's probably more room under your skirt anyway."

Bubblegum immediately clasped her arms around the top and bottom of her shirt, so that Marceline couldn't move. "Princess, your tea!" Peppermint called as she strode quickly out of the room.

"I'll drink some later!" she called back, and walked as fast as she could without outright running.

Various candy citizens greeted her as she made her way through the castle, and then the town square. She replied tersely, but did not dare stop until she was in the forest, where the shadows were deep enough for even a vampire to move around during the day.

She shoved a hand down her shirt, grabbed Marceline, and practically threw her, although the vampire bat only flew a few feet before righting herself and laughing. "You are the most--worst--"

"Most worst?" Marceline shifted back to her normal form, looking so satisfied with herself that Bubblegum honestly wanted to punch her. "Better watch your grammar, princess."

"I'll watch--ooh! You don't do that sort of thing!"

"Oh come on. I was just having fun."

Bubblegum planted her hands on her hips. "Why does it seem like half of your ideas for 'fun' involve embarrassing me?"

"Consistency?" Marceline said with a wide grin. Bubblegum immediately began searching for a stick to throw at her. "Alright, fine! Geez."

"Honestly," Bubblegum huffed. "I don't know why I invited you to spend the night."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Marceline began floating away. "See you tonight?"

 _"This time bring your stupid umbrella."_

* * *

Being a vampire, Marceline technically didn't need to sleep, although she could if she wanted. It was a good alternative sometimes, if she was really really bored and had absolutely nothing to do, or was waiting impatiently for something and needed a bunch of time to go by quickly. Or if, say, a certain pink princess had the idea that cuddling duties didn't end when one person on the bed lost consciousness, and woke up and pouted whenever Marceline tried to move. Well fine. If Bubblegum wasn't going to be awake for the cuddling, neither was Marceline.

That plan didn't last the _entire_ night. Marceline woke up disoriented, confused about what had interrupted her slumber--until a violently shivering Bubblegum shoved her shoulder again. "Marceline!" she hissed. "Your house is freezing!"

Oh. Yeah. Being a vampire, she also didn't have to worry about things like temperature. "Sorry," she mumbled, and tried to curl in closer.

Bubblegum shoved her again. Annoyed, she pulled back. "Don't you have a heater or something?"

"Uh, no." Why would she need one of those?

"Then get another blanket."

Marceline had exactly one blanket, and she only had that because for some reason Bubblegum refused to even sit on Marceline's bed until it was fully made. "There are no more blankets. Go to sleep," she said, because while she wasn't tired, she had been incredibly comfortable, and wanted to get back to that.

"I can't! It's too cold!"

"If you're asleep, you won't be cold!"

"It woke me up! I can't go back to sleep now!"

"Ugh!" Marceline flopped back on the bed and threw her arm across her eyes. "You spend how much time in the Ice Kingdom? And you're complaining about my place?"

"That's different, Marceline! I don't usually stay that long, _and_ I'm fully dressed."

"Thank goodness for that," Marceline mumbled. Bubblegum's weight shifted dramatically, and Marceline moved her arm to see the princess sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Where are my clothes?" she murmured, and made to stand.

Oh plop no. That was not an acceptable solution. Marceline darted out, already mid-transformation, and dragged Bubblegum back to the center of the bed with arms that were elongated and covered in fur. The princess only squeaked a little as she was pressed against the wolfen body, as close as Marceline could get them without climbing on top of her. She still had no body heat to give off, but fur was used for jackets and stuff, so it should help, right?

Bubblegum didn't protest, and Marceline couldn't see her face from this angle, so she assumed everything was okay. She spent a few quiet moments listening to Bubblegum's breathing even out. Then the princess shifted, and Marceline tensed.

Bubblegum rolled over so that the two of them were face to face and pressed close once again, her face nuzzling Marceline's neck, her hand grasping unconsciously at the fur on Marceline's shoulder before she sighed sleepily and fell still. Marceline relaxed and, because she could, took a few careful sniffs. When she was in this form Bonnibelle smelled almost as good as she tasted. Marceline wrapped her arms a little tighter and made sure their legs were tangled together, to keep her princess as warm as possible.

She didn't fall asleep again that night, but morning seemed to come in an instant anyway.

* * *

"The Evening Bell blossoms are lovely tonight," Bubblegum said.

Marceline smirked. "They're lovely every night, princess. You just don't get out enough."

"Not all of us are nocturnal, Marceline."

She shrugged. "Your loss," she said, and didn't object when Bubblegum reached out and grabbed her hand. They were wandering in the forest outside the Candy Kingdom, and this far away from the city lights Bubblegum could only make out the general details of their surroundings, even with the aid of the moonlight. Marceline, she was sure, could see fine. Or could she?

"Is your night vision significantly different from your day vision?" she asked.

Marceline looked at her. "Um, what?"

"Well, one would assume that vampiric eyes would be optimized for low light, possibly with a high number of rods compared to cones. But your color vision during the day seems comparable to a diurnal creature."

"Uh..."

"Do things look different to you at night versus during the day?"

"Well, yeah." Marceline lifted her feet from the ground and drifted slightly forward. "Things look darker at night."

Bubblegum frowned. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Bonnie, I can honestly say I have no idea what you meant." Bubblegum opened her mouth, and Marceline quickly put a finger over it. "Can we save the science stuff for another time?"

Bubblegum sighed. "Fine." She grabbed Marceline's free hand, and tugged her so that they were directly facing each other. "And what would you like to do instead?"

Marceline grinned, and opened her mouth to speak. "Helloooooo, ladies!"

Bubblegum's eyes widened in concern, and Marceline's mouth snapped closed. They both looked up to see the Ice King hovering above them. Marceline immediately dropped Bubblegum's hands and turned to face their unexpected guest. "Are you serious?!" she sputtered.

"Ice King!" Bubblegum cried. "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

"Exactly! The entire Candy Kingdom is asleep, including Finn and Jake! There is no one to save you!" The Ice King rubbed his hands together gleefully.

"Uh, hi!" Marceline called. "I don't know if we've met."

Ice King glanced at her, then did a double take. "And who are you? Another princess?"

"Vampire queen, actually," she said with a grin.

"Oh! Well that's...uh..." His eyes widened as what had moments ago been an innocuous looking teenage girl suddenly transformed into a huge, hulking bat beast. "...That's new. Gotta go!"

Marceline roared after the fleeing figure for good measure, then shifted back. "Man, what a tool," she scoffed.

"Agreed." Bubblegum reached for Marceline's hand again, and this time the other girl met her halfway.

They spent some time in idle conversation, still wandering to and fro while Marceline pointed out all the unfamiliar denizens of the night, the princess paying rapt attention and asking questions that Marceline couldn't always answer, but did her best to indulge.

She saw the white and blue figure out of the corner of her eye an instant before the Ice King lunged. "Yoink!" he said, and faceplanted. "Ow..."

Marceline, who had grabbed Bubblegum and yanked her out of the way in the nick of time, snarled, already transforming. "You again?! Don't you learn?"

The Ice King yelped and took to the sky, but this time instead of flying away he hovered just outside of Marceline's reach. "Oh come on, you guys! I've been having trouble sleeping lately, and I just thought that if I was going to be awake anyway, I should put that time to good use!"

Marceline roared and lunged, causing Ice King to finally turn tail and fly away. She beat her wings, determined to make sure this time he didn't come back--until she heard a small shriek and turned to see Bubblegum tumbling backwards from the wind generated by the lift. She immediately stopped flapping and transformed to her normal form. "Oh man, sorry!" She hurried over to where Princess Bubblegum was already righting herself, and helped her stand. "Ugh, that was my bad."

"It's quite alright," Bubblegum said, adjusting her crown.

"That guy is so annoying," Marceline growled. "Why the heck haven't you offed him yet?"

Bubblegum huffed a bit. "Ice King is annoying, but he's ultimately harmless."

"Harmless my a--"

"Marceline!"

By this point Marceline looked like she was about two seconds away from giving up the entire evening and flying off. In an effort to stay her, Bubblegum linked their arms and tried to tug her forward. "Come on, let's just get out of here."

Marceline let herself be dragged along, and after a few minutes even started talking to Bubblegum again. She started and glared suspiciously at every noise, however, and almost all of her answers were monosyllabic. After trying and failing to start and maintain conversations on the state of the Candy Kingdom, Finn's movie collection, and even the weather, Bubblegum sighed and came to a stop.

"Look, calm down. There's no way he's still hanging around."

"Bull," Marceline said shortly, still looking around suspiciously.

"I promise he--"

"He's right over there!"

Bubblegum wanted desperately to believe the other girl was simply being paranoid, but she turned in time to see half of an enormous white beard disappearing behind a boulder. She sighed heavily as she heard the now familiar sounds of Marceline transforming behind her.

"That's it, I'm going to kill him!" Marceline howled, striding forward.

Bubblegum threw both arms around Marceline's nearest leg, causing the bat monster to stop short. "Marceline, you can't kill him!"

"Watch me! This guy is really getting on my nerves."

"Being annoyed isn't a good enough reason to kill someone."

"The fluff it isn't!"

Bubblegum planted her hands on her hips and stomped her foot for good measure. "Marceline, if you kill him, I'm going home right now!"

The vampiric beast let out a deep and altogether frightening growl, then scooped Bubblegum up into the crook of one arm and took to the sky.

Bubblegum gasped and instinctively clutched at the fur beneath her hands, although Marceline's grip was firm. "Where are we going?" she called.

"Anywhere else!"

They ended up on a mountainside, overlooking the forest. Marceline landed heavily, then dropped into a sitting position, still holding Bubblegum close. Pressed as she was against Marceline's body, Bubblegum could feel the faint growl still rumbling in her throat. She ran her hand soothingly down Marceline's face (which was the entire length of her arm in this form) and said, "I think you lost him."

"Don't care," Marceline said gruffly. "I'm staying like this, because the second I turn back he's going to show up again!"

Bubblegum wanted to contradict her, but that did sound like the Ice King. "Alright," she said genially, and then looked out over the forest. The night was clear, and the lights of the Candy Kingdom were visible in the distance. "It's a lovely view," she said.

Marceline didn't reply, but Bubblegum felt her body begin to relax. She nestled closer to the arm cupped around her protectively and began telling Marceline all she knew about constellations.

 


End file.
